542 TT. S. Gresley— Coal Plants. 



point that seems to admit of no question is this : that since these 

 coaly forms grew in place, that 'place' cannot have been other than 

 under water, for the reason that the black slime, the stratum B, 

 must have been an aquatic deposit : so that our ' coaly forms ' were 

 denizens of mud and presumably of water too. 



Other facts may be cited in this connection. The underclay or 

 ' seat earth ' of the No. 2 coal-bed in Illinois — a seam far-reaching in 

 extent and of wonderfully uniform thickness and character as regards 

 floor, coal, and roof — in very many places is penetrated • by ' coaly 

 forms ' possessing the same facies and characteristics as those we 

 have been considering in the ' Pittsburg ' seam. If the reader will 

 look at Figs. 1, 2, and 3 upside down, and disregard the bed B, the 

 general aspect of these forms, in vertical sections, will appear. In 

 other words, they are grown to the coal-bed, and protrude twisty and 

 horny sheets of compact bright coal in every variety of shape and 

 direction into the underclay ; thus making it evident that they were 

 formed exactly where they are now, and that some of the laminations 

 of the coal-bed also, as plants or parts of plants, lived and died in 

 place of growth. The characteristic markings of Siigmaria have also 

 been observed in this underclay, but so totally different are the two 

 fossils or objects and their state of preservation, that to get confused 

 in tracing them is impossible. Here, then, also we cannot escape the 

 inference that these coaly forms were plants of aquatic habitat ; and 

 although admitting some shrinkage or reduction in bulk to have 

 taken place during conversion from vegetal matter into brittle 

 material resembling coal, it is evident that comparatively little 

 shrinkage did obtain. 



Besides the above localities that have produced this kind of coal- 

 bed formation phenomena, the author has discovered very similar 

 fossils in contact with three or four coal-beds in the Leicestershire 

 and South Derbyshire Coalfield ; in fact, it was in the mines in this 

 district that they first attracted his attention. 



Doubtless similar forms exist in other regions, and the discovery 

 and study of them will yet furnish valuable facts in this line. I am 

 fully aware that if the paleeobotanist and microscopist were to pass 

 judgment on my observations and conclusions, they would say the 

 case was ' not proven ' ; but my contention or claim is this : that no 

 matter what the anatomy and internal organization of these forms 

 was and may yet be found to show, the stratigraphical evidence is 

 clearly pronounced, unmistakable, and altogether in favour of my 

 contention. Further, I hold this : that science does not demand 

 a demonstration — a knowledge — of the anatomical structure of an 

 extinct plant or animal to prove or claim the existence or discovery 

 of a new species or genus when the shape or form (castor mould, etc.) 

 of such make it evident that something new has turned up. But 

 time will show whether or not I have come upon something new or 

 important in this interesting question of coal-bed formation. If 

 I have made my claim good, it is for those who may refuse to accept 

 it to show that these fossils did not have the attributes and environ- 

 ment herein described or suggested. 



